My story started in computer support at a division of Avery Dennison. I was 7 months pregnant when I found myself crawling UNDER a scientist’s desk to repair his computer.
I wasn’t in a position to quit yet but I vowed that I would. And soon.
I got my chance a couple of years later. Avery Dennison had massive layoffs and I was one of not-so-upset laid off employees. My severance pay helped and I worked part-time as a trainer and consultant for a well-known career counseling company. I guess they thought that since I kept landing on my feet they could use my expertise.
I knew I wouldn’t hold on to the contracted position forever, so when a journalism job came up at a technical magazine I jumped at it. I had never been in journalism or any type of professional writing for that matter, but I knew I could write. They knew it too and thus began my journey into the rewarding world of professional writing.
After 5 years at the magazine I was a single mom and needed to be home with my son, so I resigned to start my own freelance writing company for technology and business clients. The magazine was my first client and my best one for several years.
I loved freelancing but after several years decided that I needed a steady job with a good salary that still allowed me to work at home. My search ended with an industry analyst firm in the technology field. The main skill? Writing.
I share my story so you’ll see that you don’t have to settle for tiny little Internet article payments to be a professional writer. People say that it’s possible to make a living by selling cheap articles. As a segment of a business model – well maybe. You have to write extraordinarily fast and well or use article spinner technology. Some people do it and do well enough. But really, the most decent unique articles one person can pump out per hour are 2-3. And frankly, all of the incredibly cheap buyers out there demand “unique original content” for $3 an article. And instead of getting laughed out of the room, writers scramble for the opportunity. And so writers charge what the market will bear. Think about it this way: If you can write 3 unique articles in an hour – a very good rate – then you’re making $9-$12 an hour. Better than minimum wage I guess, which is how many buyers justify the horrifically low cost. But you should think to yourself – “Is that what I am really worth for good content? Really?”
Let me give you some prices. When I was freelancing I charged $1 a word for a technical or business article. I charged $200 per press release page. And I charged $600-$1000 per white paper page. (This is not a typo.) Because I’m a pretty fast writer this worked out to a very nice hourly rate.
Were my prices high? No – they were on the low side of average. Now you can see why I have apoplexy when someone suggests that they should pay me $3 for an article. Oh, PLEASE. (Note: now that I am on commission with my firm, my take-home per piece is even higher.)
O.K., rant over. Thanks for listening.
If you take only one thing away from my story, let it be that if you can write for business and business people, you have a valuable skill. There are certain areas in writing that won’t make you much money, including online article writing. (If you are writing articles for your own business that’s different – I’ll talk about that later.)
But like anything else worth doing, you have to concentrate on it. If you don’t have a background in technology or business than you need to build one. You can do it; it’s actually not that hard where business is concerned. And you need to write, and write a lot. And you need to market your writing.
Trust me – I’m on the lazy side. I’m a classic case of “if I can do it, anyone can.”
You can do it too.
Successful Writers are Well Paid Writers
A lot of modern writers start off with the idea that writing articles for online businesses is the way to success. They read about article marketing and how many opportunities there are to write. They read about eBooks and decide to write one of those. They decide they’re going to write sales letter galore.
And some of them do. Heck, some of them are millionaires — or close to it. But these are the superstars of copywriting whose skill translates into large amounts of money for their clients (i.e., copywriting sales letters whether online or print). What I find is that many writers limit themselves (even doom themselves) by accepting low-priced payments and then staying there.
What the well paid writers will do is look at their balance sheets and realize that, yes, they could go to work for McDonalds and make the same money. (Probably more.) Buyers will point out that even if you’re making pennies by writing, at least you can work at home – making incredibly cheap writing the basis for a stay-at-home mom’s financial life. Gee, thanks guys.
Don’t do it. Start with a business model that will allow you to make real money – not less than $30K a year at the lowest end. The upper end scales to $85K and up. Not bad for a good day’s work.
Here’s the difference: online business has a very low financial entry point. You can establish a business online with a minimum cost. This attracts people who have no experience or interest in paying traditional rates for business writers. So they offer a few paltry dollars per article to outsource their writing.
Experienced business writers look at those rates and either have apoplexy or get the giggles. And they go back to their well paid clients and businesses. But new writers get caught up in the same online entry point. And what does the market bear? $5 an article if you’re lucky. And the writers write for that and are grateful for the chance.
Don’t be one of them.
